Showing posts with label shoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shoes. Show all posts
Gold and Diamond Stilettos Available for $160,000
Shoes that dazzle, sparkle and come with a price tag that would make most people lose their footing are now available for the very few who can afford to buy them and dare to wear them.
At 100,000 pounds sterling ($160,000), the hand-made Eternal Diamond Stilettos are considered to be the most expensive shoes in the world, according to media reports. Each pair takes 100 hours to be crafted by a team of goldsmiths from solid sheets of gold, before 2,200 diamonds are hand soldered onto the shoe. Five pairs of the sparkling stilettos have reportedly been sold.
Designer Christopher Michael Shellis created the bespoke luxury shoes in his Birmingham, England, workshop. He sells them through The House of Borgezie. Shellis said three high-profile celebrities are interested but would not name names, according to media reports. Among those rumored to have the stilettos on their shopping list are Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton and British singer Cheryl Cole.
Shellis backs the craftsmanship with a 1,000-year guarantee. However, he hasn’t said how the owners or their heirs will collect.
Image from The House of Borgezie Web site.
Amazon and eBay to Tap High-End Fashion Markets
Online giants Amazon.com and eBay are both targeting high-end apparel, shoes and accessories retail segments.
The new initiative for Amazon will rival established high-end online fashion sites Yoox and Net-A-Porter, according to a story in the Financial Times (subscription required). It will improve the experience for shoppers with more viewing options for clothing and will offer free returns for clothing items of more than $25, tapping into the success of a similar program from Zappos, the shoe Web site Amazon acquired this past November. The company reportedly said it will be ready to launch the new site by October, in time for the holiday shopping season.
Meanwhile, eBay relaunched its clothing sales under the eBay fashion brand in April, adding videos and comments from fashion stylists and a “find similar items” image-matching feature, the FT reports. It has also launched a “fashion outlet” site in the U.K. and created “storefronts” in the U.S. with retailers including Brooks Brothers and Timberland selling excess and discounted stock directly to buyers.
Here is a link to the story on the Zacks Web site.